Gareth Bale

Bale lives with his long time girlfriend and now fiancée, Emma Rhys-Jones, in Madrid. The couple has two daughters, Alba Violet and Nava Valentina, born in 2012 and 2016 respectively.

He has endorsed many global companies in his decade long career, including Adidas and EA Sports. In fact, he was on the cover of EA Sport’s most popular game, FIFA 14, along with Lionel Messi.

Gareth Frank Bale was born on 16th July, 1989 in Cardiff, Wales, to Frank and Debbie Bale. His father, a caretaker in a local school, and his mother, a local operations manager, enrolled him at the Eglwys Newydd Primary School at Whitchurch, where he was spotted by the scouts from the Southampton football club. He was just nine years old at that time.

After finishing his primary education, Bale went to the Whitchurch High School, where he attracted the attention of the authorities for his athletic skills. Apart from football, he was a regular in the rugby and hockey field as well, excelling in both these sports. By the time that he graduated high school in 2005, he had won the Cardiff & Vale Senior Cup and the school award for services to sport.

Just a year after passing high school, Bale was drafted into the Southampton football club in 2006, thus becoming the second youngest player in the history of the club. He scored his first club goal against Derby County in a 2-2 draw.

While at Southampton, Bale won the BBC Wales Young Sports Personality of the Year. He was seen as a free kick specialist at the time, scoring three of his five goals for the club from free kicks. He represented Southampton in 45 games; the last one being against Derby County on May 12, 2007.

Within two weeks, he was signed by Tottenham Hotspur in a 5 million pounds deal. He made an immediate impact, scoring three goals in his first four outings for the team, including one against a strong Arsenal team.

However, the tide turned against Bale after he sustained an injury in a league game against Birmingham City. It turned out to be ligament damage on the right ankle which effectively ruled him out for the rest of the season. He came back to the team in the next season after signing a new 4 year deal with the club but remained in the sidelines for most of the season because of indifferent form.

He underwent a knee surgery the following year and came back to the field strongly afterwards. He went on to score key goals against various opponents including Arsenal and Chelsea, which won the Spurs a place in the Champions League qualification in 2009.

According to Forbes magazine, Gareth Bale has a net worth of $34 millions.